Although the fire was relatively small, social media erupted with theories, jokes and rumours.

A small fire broke out on the roof of Trump Tower in New York City on Monday morning, 8 January, and the internet has some interesting theories about it. The fire broke out in the 58-storey building's heating and cooling system, injuring at least two people and resulting in smoke billowing from the roof.

New York City fire officials said the blaze began around 7 am local time.

US President Donald Trump was in Washington DC at the time of the fire. Trump Tower was Trump's primary residence before he took office in January 2017.

Eric Trump, one of the president's sons, described the blaze as a "small electrical fire" and said that the fire department responded within minutes. About 84 firefighters and medical crew responded to the incident that was declared under control after about an hour and 15 minutes.

"There was a small electrical fire in a cooling tower on the roof of Trump Tower," Eric Trump tweeted. "The New York Fire Department was here within minutes and did an incredible job. The men and women of the #FDNY are true heroes and deserve our most sincere thanks and praise!"

Although the fire was relatively small, jokes, memes and conspiracy theories immediately broke out across social media.

A Facebook page called "Neon Nettle" claimed that the incident was a "deep state assassination attempt" on the president. Some also speculated that the fire was intentionally set.

Meanwhile, many Twitter users pounced on the opportunity to poke fun at President Trump over the incident. Everything from Pope jokes to the new book plaguing his administration, ironically named "Fire and Fury", was fair game.

"That isn't a fire at Trump Tower. It's just Donald declaring himself the new Pope," one Twitter user hilariously wrote.

"Reports that the fire at Trump Tower started in a pair of pants," another person chimed.

Many people also expressed their concern for the safety of the people living and working in the tower.

"Do people realize that #trumptower is primary occupied by companies whose employees have no association to Trump. My wife sells shoes and works there and some comments are disgusting," one person said.

A fire broke out at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, and the internet had quite a few interesting theories Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Case study in how quickly fake news websites can exploit situations for clicks: a Facebook-verified fake news website has already published a fake story that Trump may have died in the Trump Tower fire. pic.twitter.com/6QxpuYd2TF